The 800-pound gorilla in the room this weekend at the Honda Indy Toronto was the future of the race’s event date next year, as the Pan-Am Games come in August 2015 and would require INDYCAR to shift its date forward from July.
Honda Indy Toronto President/GM Charlie Johnstone hinted to MotorSportsTalk over the weekend that a deal was close for IndyCar to return next year, but couldn’t be pressed on a date itself.
But here’s where things get interesting. A report from The Globe & Mail’s Jeff Pappone said the Toronto weekend, per a source with knowledge of an early 2015 IndyCar schedule, could move to early June. That would put it near or perhaps on the same weekend as the Canadian Grand Prix, the country’s marquee motorsports event at Montreal. The Toronto race also has to renew its deal with the city.
The TUDOR United SportsCar Championship raced at nearby Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in mid-July this year, and the investment made by the new ownership group of Ron Fellows, Carlo Fidani and Al Boughton has seen the Bowmanville track upgrade its facilities, paddock, media center and atmosphere. Promotion has also increased, with several events.
A CTMP race would solve several problems for IndyCar. For one, it’s a natural terrain, permanent road course – something that only appears on the schedule three times all this year (while the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course exists, it’s an infield one, and not set up purely as a road course).
Secondly, it could enhance the track’s bottom line. While the TUDOR Championship seeks to be a marquee series, an IndyCar event has the potential to see an increase in ticket and merchandise sales. Camping could occur, something that isn’t an option at Exhibition Place. The track’s openness could allow for INDYCAR-type facilities like the Fan Village, which was not in Toronto this year, to be brought in. The potential downside is the track would need to pay INDYCAR’s sanctioning fee, and there’d be the cost of potential infrastructure/safety upgrades at some areas of the track.
But where there’s a potentially thorny conflict would be with IMSA itself, assuming it returns to CTMP next year (given most new IMSA dates are multiyear contracts, there’s every reason to expect it will). IMSA has stated that as it plans to grow the TUDOR Championship, it seeks to be the lead event on race weekends; with no disrespect, an IndyCar race on the same weekend likely would see it as the headliner and the TUDOR Championship secondary.
It’s the same problem that currently exists at Road America here in Elkhart Lake, Wis., another pristine road course that doubles as a natural park. Seemingly everyone and their dog wants it to come back for IndyCar, but until a sponsor pays for it and the sanctioning fee amount comes down, it’s not going to happen. Every year around this time is the same song and dance about wanting it back, but it will remain an eternal pipe dream until everyone gets on the same page.
Where TUDOR has opted to take the undercard has been at the Long Beach and Detroit street races, because it would have no other way of getting onto the schedule given the streets are only shut down once annually.
If CTMP could make the numbers work to where a separate IndyCar weekend could occur, with the usual additions of the Mazda Road to Indy and/or the Pirelli World Challenge (PWC raced a Touring Car event in May at CTMP this weekend and GT has been there before), then a late July date would be possible. It’s doubtful IndyCar and TUDOR would race on the same weekend at CTMP.
But man almighty, the prospect of open-wheel back at a legendary road course is mouth-watering. Like Road America however, it may only be a dream.
As the SuperMotocross season heads outdoors, the NBC Power Rankings change significantly with results from the Motocross opener at Fox Raceway in Pala, California. The Power Rankings assign a numeric value to each individual moto (90 points maximum) as well as the overall standings (100 points) and averages that number over the past 45 days. Included in the Power Rankings are results from the final five Supercross rounds, which fit into that 45-day timeframe.Dylan Ferrandis finished on the podium in his first race back after experience a concussion in Supercross Round 4 at Houston. – Align Media
It didn’t take long for Jett Lawrence to rocket to the top of the SuperMotocross rankings – only about 74 minutes in fact. Lawrence dominated his first moto and beat his teammate Chase Sexton, the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross champion, to the line by 10 seconds. He had to fight a little harder for the second moto win as Sexton stalked him throughout the race and ended up less than a second behind.
Beginning this week, we have added the SuperMotocross points’ ranking beside the rider’s name and in one fell swoop, Lawrence went from being unranked in the 450 class to 26th. To qualify for the inaugural SuperMotocross’ guaranteed 20 positions that automatically make the gate for the three-race championship series, Lawrence needs to be inside the top 20 in combined Supercross and Motocross points. The bubble is currently held by Justin Starling and Lawrence needs to make up 44 points to overtake him.
Sexton’s second-place finish in the overall standings at Fox Raceway marked his ninth consecutive top-five finish. After the race, Sexton compared the battle he had with Lawrence to the one he experienced with Eli Tomac in last year’s Pro Motocross championship. These two riders had a significant advantage over the field in Pala, but there is still a lot of racing to be completed.
After missing 13 rounds to a concussion, Dylan Ferrandis told NBC Sports that he was not going to do anything risky in the season opener at Fox Raceway. If he dialed back his effort at all, one would be hard-pressed to notice. He finished third in both motos and was third in the overall standings. Ferrandis began the weekend just outside the top 20 in combined SuperMotocross points and climbed to 19th. In the next few weeks, he will get a little more breathing room over the cutline and then challenge for wins.
Adam Cianciarulo’s three-race streak of top-five finishes ended with a sixth-place overall at Fox Raceway, but that was enough to advance him one position in the NBC SuperMotocross Power Rankings and land him eighth in the combined points standings. His individual motos were moderate, but Cianciarulo is still battling the effects of injury and a nagging loss of strength in his wrist.
Aaron Plessinger returned from injury in the Supercross season finale to finish second at Salt Lake City. He added another top-five to his season total and now has six of those in the 13 rounds he’s made. With Ken Roczen and Eli Tomac not currently racing in Motocross, Plessinger has an opportunity to rise to the third seeding in short order.
A bad start to Moto 1 at Fox Raceway was not enough to deter Hunter Lawrence. Neither was the fact that he was riding with sore ribs after experiencing a practice crash earlier in the week. He was a distant 10th to start the first race and for most of the 30 minutes, it seemed he would finish off the podium. Lawrence did not win the 250 East Supercross championship by giving in to hopelessness or pain, however.
Lawrence picked off one rider and then another until he found the battle for the top five in front of him at the halfway point. Once the field started to lap riders, Lawrence used the opportunity to continue forward through the grid. He passed third-place Jo Shimoda with two laps remaining and challenged Maximus Vohland for second on the final trip around Fox Raceway, but had to settle for the final spot on the podium. Lawrence dominated Moto 2 and claimed the overall victory in Pala.
Justin Cooper made his first start of the season at Fox Raceway and earned enough NBC Power Average points to climb to second. Partly this was due to consistently strong runs in both motos and a 5-4 that gave him the fifth position overall, but he is also not weighed down with moderate Supercross results. It will take a week or two to see where his strength lands him on the grid.
In only his third Pro Motocross National, Haiden Deegan scored a second-place finish in the overall standings. – Align Media
RJ Hampshire may feel he has something to prove after finishing second to Jett Lawrence in the 250 SX West division. He certainly rode like that was the case in Moto 1 and easily outpaced the field on his way to victory lane. In Moto 2, he crashed twice on Lap 1 and dropped back to 39th. It took half of the race to get inside the top 20 and salvage points. By the end of the race, he was 11th and while that was enough to get him on the overall podium, it cost him points in the NBC SuperMotocross Power Rankings.
Haiden Deegan surprised the field in Houston in his 250 Supercross debut by finishing fifth. At the time, he said his strong result was because there were no expectations. He echoed that statement after the Motocross season opener. His second-place finish in the overall standings was enough to project him five positions up the SuperMotocross Rankings. In 11 rounds in the combined series, Deegan has earned seven top-fives and a worst finish of eighth.
Jo Shimoda did not make his first Supercross race of 2023 until late in the season. He finished fourth on the hybrid track of Atlanta, which had some similar elements to Fox Raceway. His fourth-place finish in Moto 1 of the Motocross opener made it seem likely he would score an overall podium, but a sixth in the second race cost him points in the NBC Power Rankings in a field that promises to be extremely tight.
250 Rankings
This
Week
Driver (SMX rank)
Power
Avg.
Last
Week
Diff.
1.
Hunter Lawrence (1)
89.56
2
1
2.
Justin Cooper (42)
84.67
NA
3.
RJ Hampshire (3)
83.67
3
0
3.
Haiden Deegan (4)
83.67
8
5
5.
Jo Shimoda (16)
82.33
7
2
6.
Guillem Farres (46)
79.33
NA
7.
Levi Kitchen (6)
79.11
5
-2
8.
Max Anstie (5)
77.83
12
4
9.
Max Vohland (8)
77.50
14
5
10.
Enzo Lopes (10)
76.00
11
1
11.
Mitchell Oldenburg (13)
74.25
16
5
12.
Carson Mumford (19)
71.22
17
5
13.
Jordon Smith (7)
70.56
9
-4
14.
Ryder DiFrancesco (48)
70.33
NA
15.
Chris Blose (12)
67.00
13
-2
16.
Chance Hymas (27)
66.00
19
3
17.
Tom Vialle (9)
65.78
18
1
18.
Jett Reynolds (55)
63.33
NA
19.
Michael Mosiman (28)
62.33
20
1
20.
Garrett Marchbanks (64)
59.00
NA
* The NBC Power Rankings assign 100 points to a Main event winner in Supercross and overall winner in Motocross. It awards 90 points for each Moto, Heat and Triple Crown win. The points decrement by a percentage equal to the number of riders in the field until the last place rider in each event receives five points. The Power Ranking is the average of these percentage points over the past 45 days.
